Wow! What a week it has been, and it is only Wednesday! Plus, my kids aren't even here, so I should be so superbly rested that no one can stand me. But, of course, that is not my way. Here is the deal. The Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese recipe contest opened Monday, and of course I am going to enter. They are giving away $500 for each winning recipe, and I could really use the cash since this blog/website thing doesn't actually pay anything! :) Anyway, Monday evening I began revising an old appetizer recipe of mine-- to make it better, of course. Well when I put the THIRD batch of them in the oven, I was totally frustrated. They were good, but not fabulous, and I could not for the life of me make them pretty. So about that time....I think it was about 10 pm....I knocked a vase off the counter.... Broken glass went EVERYWHERE, even into the next room, and there was this glass "dust" that I swear probably went as far as the neighbor's, AND the timer on the oven started going off! I was barefoot, of course, (I can't wear tennis shoes in the house or my dog, Lucky, has a fit because he thinks we are going for a walk,) and David rushed into see what kind of a mess I was in (or had made) and thankfully helped me clean it up and get the food out of the oven. Wow, that was a long sentence.... Whew. I then was able to resume my obsessive analysis of this appetizer. Well at about midnight...I was cleaning up, and all of a sudden I felt a piece of glass stick in the bottom of my foot. I quickly jerked it up and by doing this, I raked the glass across my other foot, slashing my toe. Well, it wasn't pretty....... David was in bed, and it did take him awhile to hear my distress call. By this time I could not move, because blood was going everywhere, and we were out of paper towels!!! AND all I could think about was this was going to mess up that pedicure that I was getting this week for my class reunion! David groggily stumbled in with a roll of toilet tissue to save the day, and soon everything was back in order. ...But, I still was not happy with the appetizer. Tuesday was a pharmacy work day, and I marched in with a plate of my appetizers hoping they would eat them because the kids are gone.. so the refrigerator is full. Of course they ate them. But I still was not happy. About noon, ( I go to work at 10:30) there were actually still a few left on the plate. Then I knew. I was right, they weren't fabulous. The heavens opened and the light came down, and a voice inside said "Give it up girl! Start over!" (That was a bit dramatic, I suppose.) Actually I realized at that point that I was not willing to settle for a "good" appetizer, and these weren't going to get any better, so they were officially history. Then I felt better. New ideas started rolling around in my head like "can't do a cheese ball, everyone has done a cheeseball..maybe a mini cheeseball...with nuts...oh, how about bacon, no, wait....coconut...oh oh oh toasted coconut and bacon and cream cheese, and hey how about some pineapple... and pecans, maybe...and yes definitely toast the coconut....and so it went on...all the way home...even in a discussion on the phone with my mom. And after a quick stop at the grocery store, I made it home and immediately attacked this new idea. And TADAAAA!!!!! The Tropical Bacon Bites were born! And I am very happy with them! So, raise your right hand with me right now, and repeat after me, "I solemnly swear to no longer just settle for "good" when I can have "fabulous"! Thanks for listening!